Folding rule



Patented Aug. i4, 1934 Fries 1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to folding rules consisting of aplurality of secticns that are pivotally connected together, the objectbeing to provide a rule of this character which is made up in sectionsof exactly six inches long, each section being provided with a squareout end for facilitating in the use of the said rule.

In folding rules heretofore used, the sections comprising the same arenot of any fixed deflnite length and the ends thereof are generallyrounded, with the result that in the event the rule is injured or brokenintermediate the ends thereof the whole rule is no longer capable ofexact use and must therefore be discarded or thrown away. In my improvedrule, however,

by providing each section of a deiinite length, any injury or breakageof the rule intermediate the ends thereof will not destroy the utilityof the rule, as the same may be severed at the next adjacent pivotalconnection, thereby leaving a workable rule which would still be made upof equal six inch sections.

It is therefore the main object of this invention to provide a foldingrule of the character described, which is made up of a plurality ofpivotally connected sections, each section being of a six inch length,the six inch mark terminating at the squared off end of said section.Thus, if a four foot rule is provided, the same will be made up of eightsix inch sections and in the event that the said rule should be broken,say at the 38 mark, the last two sections of said rule may be readilyremoved, thereby leaving a folding rule of exactly 36 long, while rulewill be in as good a working condition and as eicient in useas theoriginal rule, only that the same would be of a three foot lengthinstead of the original four foot length.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rule of the characterdescribed, which is provided with the usual markings at the inch spacesthereof, said markings extending from one to forty-eight in a four footrule, and in addition to the above markings there are also providedmarkings of one to twelve for each of the intermediate one foot sectionsthereof, whereby the efficiency and use of the rule will be greatlyfacilitated. o

A still further object of this invention is to provide a folding rule ofthe character described, which is made up of equal sections, the ends ofwhich are cut square, whereby the same be disposed against a square endof the object to be measured for facilitating in taking the measurementof said object.

With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction, arrangements and combination of parts, hereinafter morefully described, illustrat-edy in the accompanying drawing andparticularly pointed out in the appended claim, it being understood thatvarious changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of thestructure may be made without departing from the spirit or sacricing anyof the advantages of the invention.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention I haveillustrated in the accompanying drawing a preferred embodiment thereof,from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with thefollowing description, my invention, its mode of construction andassembly and many of its advantages should be readily understood andappreciated.

Referring to the drawing in which the same characters of reference areemployed to indicate corresponding or similar parts throughout theseveral gures of the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side view of a ruler constructed in accordance with thisinvention showing my improved markings thereon;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmental portion of the rule showing it aboutactual size and also showing the markings thereon as they appear at thebeginning and at the end of said rule; and

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing my improved rules as applied toan object to be measured.

In the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawing the numeral 10designates generally my improved folding ruler which is made up of aplurality of equal sections 11, and the end section 12 which is shorterin length than the other sections, said end section being exactly sixinches long. Each of said sections is provided with cross'lines 13 thatseparate the rules into inch lengths, sections or spaces that arenumbered from one to forty-eight inclusive as in ordinary linearmeasurement. lines 13 there are also provided the usual shorter lines 14that divide the inch space into fractions of an inch as is common andwell known in an ordinary ruler.

As illustrated more clearly in the drawing, the section 12 is pivotallyconnected to its adjacent section ll at one end thereof, said connectionbeing of such arrangement that when said section 12 is swung to theleft, as viewed in Figure 1, to bring the same into alignment with its`adjacent section 11, the said two rsections will form a rule exactlytwelve inches long.

The cross line 15, which marks the end of the sixth one-inch space isalso the end'of the rst section 12, said end being cut square so as toexactly coincide with the cross line l5. Similarly, the cross line 16,which marks the end of the twelfth inch space, coincides with the squarecut end of the second section. In a similar manner the reference numeral17 designates In addition to the cross 20 designates the cross linewhich marks the end' of the thirty-sixth inch sectionas Well` as thesquare cut end of the sixth six-inch-section; the reference character 21designatesthev crossgfline which marks the end of the forty-second inchspace as well as the square cut end of the-seventh six-inch section;Vand the reference character 22 designates the crosslne which marks theend oi the forty-eighth inch space as well as the square cut end of thelast section of the ruler illustrated in Figure 1. Y

It will be apparent from the above that when the ruler is open to theposition illustrated in Figure 3, the distance from the end 23-.0f theruler to the cross line 16 will be exactly 12, also the distance fromthe cross line 16,tothe cross line 18 will be exactly 1'2", andsimilarly the distance between'the cross lines' 18 and 20 and the crosslines 20 and 22 will be exactly 12". Thus should the ruler be broken atan intermediate section, such for example as atjthe point indicated at24 inl'Figure 1 ofthe drawing, it will onlybe necessary to remove theremaining portion of the next `to the last section Y11, thereby leavinga ruler which will run ,from point 23 to point 20, which ruler willstillbe made .up of equal 6" sections and will be as r`capa-ble of efficientuse as the original ruler, only that .the same will be onerfootshorterin length.

It will be readily understood that should the said ruler be injured orbrokenata point .indicated at 25 in Figure 1, the remainingportion ,ofthe said fifth section in which the break occurred may be readilyremoved, thereby leaving a complete two-foot rule, which will still heeiiicient in operation. Thus it will be noted that I have provided afolding rule made up 'of vsections which are so arrangedthat vthe.samemay be Vbroken off intermediate the ends 'thereof without destroyingvthe utility and .eilciency of the rule. i

In order to facilitate in the reading of measurements made with myimproved rule, Ihave provided in addition to themarkings usually presentin an ordinary ruler, .the marking 26 as shown in 'Figure 1, .whichrmarkings Ystart with the numeral 1 at .the end Iof 4the rst inch spaceon the third .section of my rule, said markings being ninnbered .fromone yto twelve on the inch spaces provided ,on thethird and fourthections of my rule. Similarly, the fifth and sixth sections are .imarked from .one .to twelve inclusive, as well as the seventh and eighthsections markedfrom .one to. twelve inclusive. This it will vbe noted isprovided in addition to the usual markings Anumbered from one toforty-eight, which iscornmon inthe ordinary rule.

I have found that the provision of these addi- K tional markings ornumbers greatly facilitates inthe-"use of my inproved ruler. To preventconfusion, theone to twelve markings vmay be made somewhat larger and onone side of the cross lines 13, whereas the one to forty-eight markingsmay be made smaller andon'the other side of said cross lines v13, asmore clearly illutrated in Figure 2 of the drawing. The reverse side ofthe ruler is marked the same way, only that the said markings arestarted from the ,end 22 of the ruler instead of theend 23 asillustrated in Figure 1.

In providing the square cut ends 15, 16, 17 andso 4on, for each or" thesections of said rule,

,. the use of the rule in taking measurements of flat objects may begreatly facilitated by using ithe rsame in the manner illustrated inFigure 3 :or the like, upon which may be placed the rule 10 in unfoldedposition one of the square ends 1 16 lforexample resting against theside edge of said Itable 27, in Whichpositioniit will be comparativelysimple yto measure or to layv off the desired distance on said table 27,since the markings `from this point 16 begin with one as indicated at 26in Figure 1.

'It will also be noted that should it be desired toV lay off on ka flatsurface suchas the table. '27 illustrated in the drawing, distances ofsix or' twelve inch lengths, it will onlyV be necessary to move saidrule `to the right as viewed in vFigure 3 in successive steps with thesquare end 16, 17, and so on, striking against the edge of said tableand a mark placed adjacent4 the end of the rule every time .one of saidsquare 'ends is .disposed against said sideedge of the table. Thissimple operation will result in the laying out of equal six-inch yspaceson said table or onora sheetuof paper disposed thereon.

'From the above description and operation of' my improved rulerit willybe obvious that I have provided a simple construction of folding ruler,the life of which will be prolonged and the usefulness thereof extendedfor a periodmuch longer Athan that ofthe ruler now in use because .'ofthe fact that the .efficiency and utility of 'the same is notdestroyedbyinjury yto -or breakage of a .portion thereof.

"It is believed 'that my invention, its .mode vof construction and manyvof its advantages should be'readily 4understood from the foregoingwithout further description, and-should also be manifest that While apreferred .embodiment or the invention has been .shown and described forillustrative purposes, the structural detailsA are, nevertheless,capable. of wide variation within the purview of my inventionas definedin the appended claim.

Having described my invention, what I vclaim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States isc- A folding ruler of thecharacterdescribed comprisinga plurality ,of sections, each of which isdivided by .transverse lines intoV rectangular spaces and successivelyincreasing from a commonzero. point at the end of one section of theruler, said transverse ,lines being numbered from 1 to 6 on the first ofsaid sectionsand .from 6 -to 12 on the second of said sections, andagain. from l to 6 on the third of said sectionsiand from 6 to 12 on thefourth of said sections, vsaid numbering being repeated in the abovementioned manner to the end of the rule, and said lines beginning withthe third of said sections being numbered in addition to the above.numbers withnumbers indicating the distancev of said lines fromthecommon zero point,

GUSTAV J. T. NEUBERG.

distances 1

